Wednesday, January 6, 2010: Monimala School in Serampore

Today we visited Monimala School in Serampore, a village approximately 1 1/2 hour north of Calcutta.  In spite of India's national policy for compulsory education, over one hundred million youth do not have access to schooling.  To address that problem, Monimala School was started in the garage of Robin and Dr. Bani Sequiera four years ago with limited resources.  Since then, Calcutta Mercy Ministry has joined them to take the school to a new level.  Pathways to Children is now a sponsor of the school to aid in its continuing growth.

The school is part of a triad.  Besides the school, where 50-60 slum children are provided the opportunity to receive an education, Dr. Bani has established her clinic on the ground floor of the school building.  Here she offers medical services to the children, families and the community.  Thirdly, Hope House is home to ten "at risk" girls from the school and surrounding area.  The home provides a safe haven for the girls to grow and develop into capable, confident young ladies.

Pandamonium broke out as we entered the shool.  We had been told that these students get a great deal out of personal attention from volunteers and visitors, but we didn't expect this kind of a greeting.  We were each given a rose as a gift from the students and were then treated to a series of presentations by each of the age groups.  After the presentations, we toured the existing old school building and the new, nearly completed building that will house the school and the clinic and the existing school.  After the tour we were put to work monitoring 3 different school activities, one for each of the age groups.

The students are all incredibly well behaved and truly happy to be at the school.  The day left us with feelings of joy, warmth, but mostly hope for the future of these beautiful children.

The home of one of the students.

Robin and Dr. Bani Sequiera